The First Crusade Cannibals

In 1089 during the First Crusade, the Siege of Ma’arra took place in modern day Syria. During the siege some crusaders got waylaid in the town for longer than expected. Ma’arra during winter had less food and riches than crusaders had expected. So, while they waited for orders to march to Jerusalem, many crusaders took to cannibalizing the bodies of dead Muslims. The town was full of dead bodies, as most had been massacred after surrendering. A chronicler wrote that people “boiled pagan adults in cooking-pots, [and] impaled children on spits and devoured them grilled”.